Saturday, April 25, 2009

Swingers on Beverly

Swingers is a throwback to the '50s style diner, replete with bar service and outdoor patio seating. There's also some funky wallpaper (as you can see in the picture below). I can't wait to check this place out in the summer with the patio. I ate here on my first trip to L.A. when I was originally thinking about moving out here, and I was lucky to have a great friend who showed me around the city and took me here for some late night vegan chili fries.

It was those chili fries that made me fall in love with Swingers. It's a great place for a hangover brunch or late night snack -- it's open until 4am every day! This is one of the only late night places in L.A. and even better than that is that it is a healthy late night place, with clearly marked options for vegetarians and vegans.

As for us Celiacs, I had a very friendly waitress who brought out a typed list of the gluten free items on the menu. She told me that a waitress at the restaurant has Celiac and she had made the effort to create a GF menu for anybody interested. I suggested to the waitress that they should mark their menu gluten free (they already marked Vegetarian/Vegan) options and will call to speak to a manager soon to see if a more official gluten free menu can be made.

I ordered the huevos rancheros and was not disappointed. They were served with guacamole on the side, a great (and not too spicy) sauce, and a corn tortilla underneath. I think the corn tortilla was of the Mission brand, which are marked gluten free and are available in grocery stores. I added a side of turkey bacon (my personal favorite). The portions were huge and not too expensive.

4 comments:

We decided to give this place a try and were a little disappointed. The waitress tried to tell us that eventhough the french fries were fried w/ breaded items, those breaded items weren't fried very often and the temperature was pretty hot?!!!! So, obviously, we didn't order any of those. I got some mashed potatoes for my son and plain grilled chicken. He had a horrible tummy ache by the time we got home and was in tears, itching his body and sucking his tummy in from the pain. I don't think this is a very safe place for a sensitive Celiac due to cross contamination issues.

I'm very sorry to hear that you had a bad experience @ Swingers, especially after my wonderful experience this morning. It seems that I may not be as sensitive to cross-contamination issues as previously thought...